A Whole New Realm
by Triton101
Summary: After Kaiba Corp. cracks the secret to time travel, the world of Duel Monsters is changed forever. Duelists now use the most modern cards and decks for maximum potential, but there is one catch to which all Advanced players must succumb: Industrial Illusions' Ban List. As a dark power rises, Yugi is reunited with Yami for one final time to save the world from total destruction!
1. Chapter 1: The List

**After Kaiba Corp. cracks the secret to time travel, the world of Duel Monsters is changed forever. Duelists now use the most modern cards and decks for maximum potential, but there is one catch to which all Advanced players must succumb: Industrial Illusions' Ban List. As a dark power rises, Yugi is reunited with Yami for one final time to save the world from total destruction!** **Please enjoy.**

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A Whole New Realm

Chapter One: The List

"Yugi, get up! It's ten o'clock in the morning and your old man needs your help," Solomon said, banging the door with his fist to get his grandson's attention.

"Oh, Grandpa, can I have five more minutes?" Yugi pleaded pulling the covers over his head to avoid the rays of sunlight peaking through behind his window's curtain.

"Yugi, if you stayed up on Dueling Network last night without my permission again . . . you'll be grounded and won't be in any more tournaments for months to come!"

"NO! I'll be right there!" Yugi leaped out of bed, swung open the curtain and rushed to the door. His grandfather stood with a tray of food: a classic American breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast accompanied with a glass of orange juice.

"Just kidding. It's only eight-thirty" Solomon said, smiling and squinting his eyes at Yugi.

"Ugh Grandpa, that's the second time this week," Yugi said, meandering his way back to his bed and crashing face first on his pillow. Solomon chuckled and set the tray of food on Yugi's nightstand.

"Well, now eat your breakfast and come help me organize the store. It's going to be a very busy day. Everyone is going crazy for those new Duel Monsters cards. Now hurry up – eat. We only have a half an hour before the store opens."

Reluctantly, Yugi rose from his bed once more and stared at his delicious plate for a few seconds before his both his stomach and mind succumbed, forcing his hand to begin shoveling in the food with his fork. When he finally managed to look up from his half-eaten plate, he noticed his deck on the other side of the room. Yugi stopped chewing. He had forgot to set his alarm. The new ban list for _Duel Monsters _had already been released earlier this morning. He gobbled down the rest of his plate, haphazardly made his bed and attended to his daily chores. He had to get to Domino City Plaza before the huge mob of duelists arrived there first. Yugi just couldn't stand the crowd these days.

Ever since Kaiba Corp. cracked the secret to time travel, the city was as compact as Manhattan Island. Duelists from other time periods were walking through the streets, traffic jams occurred all day and the subway became the most prominent form of transportation. For Solomon, however, Kaiba Corp.'s breakthrough meant money - lots of it. People of the present would pile into the shop to buy the new, yet economically priced, meta-game cards from the future. Of course, selling cards was the most profitable element of the meta-game. The actual game itself would never be the same.

_Duel Monsters _was now forever controlled by the Industrial Illusions' ban list: a devious scheme created by Industrial Illusions' CEO Maximilian Pegasus to make more money. By banning cards or even restricting the amount of copies a duelist could run of a certain card, it guaranteed the destruction of the most popular decks of the time to make way for a "new meta-game," – the most recent meta-decks. However, not all duelists succumbed to the ban list. When the meta-games began, duelists divided themselves into Advanced players (duelists who use no banned cards), Traditional players (those who only run one copy of a banned card) and the Unlimited players (those who do not acknowledge the limits of any cards and run multiple copies of banned cards). As the King of Games, Yugi had no choice but to change his deck to meet the requirements of the list. But today, he was quite nervous. His Spellbook of Prophecy deck was ranked at tier one along with Seto Kaiba's Dragon Ruler deck. While this may initially seem like a good thing, Yugi was certain it gave Industrial illusions just the bait it needed to destroy the deck.

After Yugi had finished his chores, he hurried to his room and dressed. After he changed, he looked at his mirror across from his bed. He felt empty inside. He was missing his millennium puzzle. He was missing Yami . . .

Yugi quickly grabbed his brush and tended to his radical hair to try to get the pharaoh out of his head. But no matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to let go of Yami. They experienced so much together. Every duel they had ever fought, every time they had saved the world, every _normal_ experience they shared together. It was all gone in an instant - just one duel. And now the only possible way of ever seeing the pharaoh again was at the bottom of an abyss.

There was a knock on the door.

"Yug! Are you in there?" A Brooklyn accented voice called from the other side of the door.

"Joey!" Yugi said. He opened the door and nearly tackled his friend over the stairs with a hug.

"Jeez! What's gotten into you, ya' big baby?" Joey said, looking for a way to get his friend from squeezing him. He got what he wished for, but realized he had hit the ruff subject of the pharaoh's departure.

"Come on," he said. "We gotta get to Domino City Plaza now."

"Uh ye, but um, how exactly are we getting there? By the time we _walk _there, we'll be sweating and the crowd will be tremendous. Traffic is going to be nuts in that area and train fairs have probably hit an all time high this morning."

"Don't worry about it, Yug. I got this all under control."

"I'm sure you do," Yugi remarked with hints of skepticism and sarcasm. "Hey Grandpa! Joey and I are going to Domino City Plaza."

"Okay, well you two be careful, they're a lot of crooks in that area nowadays," Solomon warned. "Those ungrateful people from the future. No respect."

"Thanks, Grandpa."

"See ya' Gramps." Joey said.

Yugi hustled through the front door as his friend calmly followed and shut it behind him. Yugi was baffled. There sat Mai Valentine in the driver's seat of her convertible with her legs resting on the steering wheel.

"Hey boys," Mai said. "Care to hop in the car?"

Yugi looked back at Joey. "_This _is your plan? I told you traffic is going to be a nightmare!"

Mai let out a laugh. "Yugi, have you even met me? I know the back street of this city like no other. Trust me. We'll be there in no time."

Yugi had stopped looking at Mai from the moment she had called his name. In the back seat of the car was a girl with two pigtails, glasses and a short blue skirt. She had been staring at Yugi ever since he walked out the door and would not even think about taking her eye off of his.

"Hey, Yugi," she said, trying not to sound awkward.

"Hi, Rebecca." Yugi said as he swallowed down a lump in his throat.

"'Dis just got awkward," Joey remarked.

"Will somebody get in the damn car?" Mai yelled. Yugi quickly got in the back as Joey hopped in the shotgun seat with Mai. Not long after they were racing through the wind with nothing to stop them.

* * *

After finding a secure place to park, they settled for a five-minute walk to the plaza. On the way, Mai and Joey locked hands and began to talk about something amongst them. Yugi broke the silence between him and Rebecca so they could do more than just awkwardly glance at each other every two seconds.

"So Rebecca," he said. "What deck are you running these days?"

"Oh, I'm playing a Herald of Perfection now. I stopped running dragons because they are so overused. Plus, that's more of Kaiba's forte anyway. As you know, my first deck, shadow ghouls, is not competitive at all."

"So fairies huh? That suites you. I'm sure you kick butt with that."

"Oh please don't flatter me. I'm not nearly as good as you are with that Spellbook of Prophecy deck you use Mister King of Games."

Yugi was suddenly overwhelmed with grief again. The only reason he had become King of Games was because of Yami. Without him, there was no way he could have been strong enough to defeat any opponent in a duel, including Kaiba.

Rebecca caught onto Yugi's reaction to her statement. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine," he replied. "I'm just tired."

Unbeknown to either of them, Joey had been listening. Joey looked for a topic to shoot around the four of them when they saw the center plaza. "Hey guys, come on. Let's run. We're almost there."

It was a longer run than was expected. By the time they reached the center, the gang had started to break a sweat in the middle of a crowd of other duelists. The sun was blazing hot. There wasn't a cloud to be seen for miles

"Remind me never to listen to Joey when it comes to distances," said Mai.

"Relax, girl. Jeez." Joey said.

Yugi looked at the screens around the plaza. "That's odd."

"Huh?" the others replied in unison.

"Why isn't the list showing? It's usually on all day."

"Probably some technical difficulties," Rebecca reassured.

"Hey guys, I think Mister Trillionare is about to make a grand entrance," Mai remarked pointing to a helicopter with the quite visible letters KC making a decent – in the middle of the plaza.

"Everybody move, INCOMING!" Joey shouted as the chopper neared. People in the crowd began to make their way out of the square while the duelists somehow managed to stay nearby. The helicopter came down with a cacophony of noise and gradually the blades rotated slower and slower. As the door opened, Kaiba emerged from the shadows into the open sun.

"Well, if it isn't the geek squad," Kaiba remarked, his white trench coat flapping in the wind underneath the ever-slowing helicopter blades.

"Just who do ya' think your calling geeks, money boy?" Joey said.

"Well, that's obvious isn't it?"

"Why you little . . ."

"Joey, now is not the time," Yugi said, holding back his friend.

"Ah Yugi, I didn't see you there," Kaiba remarked. "Are you ready for your cards to be banned?"

"Your deck is in jeopardy just like mine, Kaiba, and you know it. Otherwise, you wouldn't even be here."

Kaiba glared at Yugi with animosity. Deep down he knew Yugi was right, but he would never admit it. Not even if it meant his life.

"_Good Morning, Duelists!_" said a flamboyant voice. Soon enough Maximilian Pegasus appeared before the crowd in his usual red vest and a glass of _Pinot Noir_ in his left hand. "_I know it's a little bit early for me to be drinking wine, but sometimes I can't help myself. Well, now that I have you all here - *ahem* Yugi Boy, Kaiba Boy -, I'd just like to remind you that you all have until this September first to change your deck format if you want to compete in Advanced format tournaments. Now we know we can't and probably won't satisfy every duelist out there. In fact I'm sure a lot can hurt you, but back here at Industrial Illusions we tried to do our _very _best to appeal to all duelists. And now, without further adieu, I present . . . the new ban list_!

What followed was apocryphal. In a flash Pegasus was gone and the list appeared on the screen.

"It can't be!" Kaiba said. Mai's jaw dropped. Rebecca stared in amazement. The crowds began to murmur.

"What kinda stunt is this?" Joey said, shaking his fist at the screen

"It's no trick Joey," Yugi said. "Pegasus has done it. He's ruined us all."

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**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. There will definitely be more to come throughout winter break. Chapter Two: Coming soon! Please comment and follow! -Triton101  
**


	2. Chapter 2: Reconstruction

**Hey guys. Chapter Two is up for y'all. Be warned. Very complex relationship stories emerge!**

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Chapter Two: Reconstruction

Yugi lay in bed. All he could do was twirl his Spellbook of Justice card in his hand. To his side lay his the rest of his deck. His mind couldn't comprehend what he had seen back at the plaza. He wished it was all a dream – that he would suddenly wake from some nightmare. But alas, the world was very real. The ban list had affected everyone, including Joey and his six samurai deck. Gateway of the Six: Banned. Yugi's own Spellbook of Justice: Banned. Kaiba's pre-form dragon rulers: Banned. Yugi was beginning to jump to the conclusion Pegasus was up to something. Why else would the ban list affect their decks so hard while decks such as HERO remained unscathed? More importantly, why did Pegasus restrict all the staple cards? Monster Reborn: Banned. Heavy Storm: Banned. Solemn Judgment: Banned. Bottomless trap hole: Limited. It was obvious these cards were "broken," but they were cards everybody used in whichever deck. There's no reason to ban a card that was used by virtually every consumer, was there?

"Yugi, dinner is almost ready," called Solomon.

"I'll be down soon," Yugi replied, tossing his useless Spellbook card across the room. He tried to think about what would happen next. How would he manage to maintain his status as King of Games? Of course he had a month to figure out a new format, but it just seemed so impossible. His deck was the best deck in the game, and the new meta-cards were not coming out until January. Yugi picked up he cards and stared at what remained. He deck felt empty. There was no substance. Of course he had his World of Prophecy, his most powerful monster, and plenty of other 2500 ATK beaters, but all of them were useless with out the power to have an endless supply of spell cards in the hand.

Something rattled inside the closet. Yugi jumped and recoiled behind the bed. He stared at the door for a few seconds and warily got up to make his way towards the closet. Cautiously, he opened the door. He concluded what made the noise was a dusty box that had fallen off its shelf. He picked up the bow and was about to place it back when he noticed his handwriting on the side of the box: First cards.

He carried the heavy box over to the bed and opened it and staring at him was his favorite card: the Dark Magician. It had been a few years since Yugi had laid eyes on this card. After the discovery of future cards, the older cards became worthless. Even Kaiba had dealt away with his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Joey probably lost his Red-Eyes Black Dragon somehow. But here Yugi was staring at what used to be his prime card. He picked it up for the first time since his final duels against evil. It was just as good as new. The holographic background glimmered in the dim light of Yugi's bedroom.

"Sorry if I scared you," said a girl's voice. Yugi wasn't startled. He recognized that voice since he had first met her in a dream. Her voice was like butter. Smooth and soft but still having a certain amount of maturity in it.

"So, if I may ask, what brings you to the real world?" Yugi said turning around to face his favorite sorceress, the Dark Magician Girl.

"I can't stay for long, little Pharaoh," she said.

"Oh please, I'm no Pharaoh."

"Atem would beg to differ."

"Really? And what makes him think that?"

"Yugi, I'm here to tell you that you and Atem are bound on a journey that will reinvent time itself. You will lead this movement; you will be the ruler of thousands, Yugi. People will know you as Pharaoh for generations to come."

"Spare me, please. My deed is done. I already saved the world – countless times. Atem is gone and so is the puzzle. I can't save the world by myself. Don't you understand? I'm nothing without Yami. Nothing! I can't even believe I've managed to stay King of Games this long."

"Is that all that matters to you now?" she asked as she made her way towards him. Her pink short dress fluttered underneath the whirling fan attached to the ceiling. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say your acting a lot like Seto."

Yugi sighed. She was right. This was more than just being the best. Had it only been about that Pegasus would have probably succeeded in taking over Kaiba Corp. during his first Duelist Kingdom tournament.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just don't know what to do. With Yami – or Atem – gone. I don't know what to do. I have no direction. I'm losing it."

The sorceress finally made her way to the bed at sat down next to Yugi. Her hair looked strange up close, especially since it went through and around her spellcaster hat. She put her wand next to the Dark Magician card and flung her blond hair back.

"The two of you will be united very soon. I can feel it. But with the reuniting of good, also comes the reuniting of evil. In fact, ever since time has become relative an old evil has reawakened. But in order to defeat it, you must battle new foes and lead man into a great war."

"Whoa, whoa, you never mentioned anything about war. I can't lead a war."

"You're doubting yourself again, Yugi. You must believe. Just like Yami believes in you."

"Can we agree on a name for the pharaoh? The whole Atem and Yami thing, is really confusing me."

The Dark Magician Girl smiled and inched closer to Yugi.

"Just remember this little pharaoh. To defeat an old evil you must reunite with the old good while keeping in mind the assets of modern times."

"Great. Could you stop speaking in riddles now?" They shared a laugh and she grabbed his hand. Their faces were only inches apart. Yugi stroked her hair back.

"I thought you said you couldn't stay for long?"

"I can make an exception."

They were both laying next to each other now and they slowly lessened the space between them. Just as Yugi felt the first touch of her lips against his, the doorknob rattled.

"Yugi! Dinner is on the table. I told you to get ready," Solomon shouted outside the door.

Yugi briefly looked away from the sorceress and turned towards the sound of his grandfather's voice. "Just one more minute."

He turned back to face the sorceress, but not surprisingly she had vanished and all that was left was his incomplete deck, a box of his old cards and the Dark Magician card which stared deep into his soul. He now knew what he had to do.

* * *

Downstairs, Joey sat down with an invited Tristan and Tea. Mai had not so accidentally left them stranded shortly after the ban list's release in the plaza. Rebecca had gone home in a taxi after the rest of the gang arrived at Solomon's game shop – by foot. Joey had been telling the others of the new ban list released by industrial illusions that was to take effect on September 1st.

"No way, dude. Monster Reborn?" Tristan said. "They can't ban that. It was already limited. It's the best staple card in the game."

"And just when I thought Pegasus would actually turn out to be on the good side for once. He's up to something fishy. I smell a rat guys."

Tristan looked perplexed. "How can you say this is fishy, but yet you smell a _rat_?"

"Okay, enough with the technicalities. Jeez."

"How's Yugi taking it, Joey?" Tea said.

"Not too well. He's been locked up in his room the entire day. My guess is he's trying to make his deck tournament legal for September," Joey said.

"Poor Yugi. How could Pegasus do this?"

"For me, Tea, it's the money. The new meta-game is coming out soon. Pegasus is banning all the best cards so that wannabe duelists will spend their money trying to be just like Yugi or Kaiba," Tristan said.

"I don't know, Tristan," Joey said. "There's something bigger going on here."

"Joey's right. Pegasus is planning something devious," Tea said.

"I'm even sure if it's Pegasus. In fact he may not even have anything to do with whatever conspiracy is trying to get covered up." Joey said.

"Will you three stop talking about conspiracies?" Solomon hollered from the kitchen. He rushed from behind the door with four fresh burgers and four cokes.

"Thanks, Gramps," said Joey.

As soon as the food was put on the table, all was forgotten except for who could finish heir food first. Yugi came down the stairs still wearing his blue jeans from earlier and his black undershirt. His hair was a bit out of whack since he had lay on his bed for so long. He quietly sat beside Tea and across from Joey, readjusted his choker and started eating with the rest of the gang. Nobody said a word. The only audible sound was Solomon cleaning pots and pans in the kitchen, the chewing of food and the gulping of drinks. When everyone was finally done eating, Joey spoke up.

"So Yug, did you figure out a new format for your deck?"

"Not exactly. But I have an idea. I'm thinking of putting Dark Magician back in my deck."

Joey whom was still chugging down his last bit of Coke almost nearly spit it back out but he managed to hold it in and swallow it down.

"You wah?" Joey managed to say, still choking on his Coke.

"I know it's sounds crazy, but something in my heart is telling me it's time to put it back in my deck."

"Yugi, the Dark Magician beatdown is not nearly as fast as the modern archetypes. What are you thinking?"

"I never said I was going to make a Dark Magician beatdown deck. I just said I'm going to add Dark Magician to the deck."

There was a brief and uneasy silence between the two. Tea took control over the conversation.

"Well, I kinda miss Dark Magician." she said.

"Same here," Tristan agreed.

"Well I'm not gonna deny it, Yug, I miss seeing you play Dark Magician, but I don't think it'll serve you any good," Joey said. "Heck I even took out my Red-Eyes a few years back. I don't even know where it is now."

Yugi looked down at his finished plate. Tea noticed Yugi's look of despair. Something was bothering him. It wasn't Yami this time. She was sure of it. It had something to do with the ban list – something that had to do with Dark Magician.

"Your deck wasn't hit too bad, Joey," Yugi said.

"Are you kidding me? They took out my ace card!"

"That may be, but your deck is not devastated. I have a feeling this ban list was meant to target my deck the most. And whether or not Pegasus is behind this or not, I'm going to get some answers."

"Well said Yug," said Joey.

"Oh yeah. Time to send Pegasus' ass back to Duelist Kingdom once and for all," Tristan remarked.

Yugi nodded and turned to Tea, who had been staying silent for most of the conversation. Tea stared back. It was times like these she had no idea what to say to Yugi. She just cramped up and let the feeling of butterflies in her stomach intensify. She deeply cared for Yugi – more than just a friend would. But what was stopping her was doubt. Constantly she questioned herself.

_Do I care for him? Would I care for him if it weren't for Yami? Do I even like him or do I just like Yami?_

Similar questions would ramble on inside her head constantly. He was all she could think about. It was apparent however at least to her Yugi was only interested in a friendship with her. The thought made her want to cry, but she couldn't start a breakdown in front of everyone.

She broke eye contact with Yugi and turned to Tristan.

"Tristan, it's getting late. We should get home," she said. He looked at her and noticed the tension in her body and easily concluded the reason, but kept quiet.

"Ye Tristan, can I get a ride with you too?" Joey asked. "My ride kinda left me on the side of the road."

"Dude, I swear you're gonna need a new girlfriend," Tristan said. "Anyhow see ya Yugi."

"Bye Yug," said Joey. "Thanks for the food Gramps."

"Oh anytime, Joey," replied Solomon.

Tristan, Joey and Tea headed out the door. As Tea was about to close the door behind Yugi called to her.

"Good night, Tea."

Tea turned around and smiled "Good night, Yugi."

She shut the door and Yugi watched her leave from the window.

_I love you, Yugi._

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**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. More action/duels in upcoming chapters. Please follow and review. I look forward to reading your responses. **


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